Cost of Ocean
Acidification (Priscila Ferreira)
Oceans have
absorbed a considerable part of the carbon dioxide released by humans over the
last 200 years and the impacts of this acidification on marine life remain
invisible. It is estimated that by the end of this century the damages will be
vast. Since these changes in the ocean are still difficult to comprehend and
ocean acidification is a very young field, the U.N. Convention on Biological
Diversity released a report to alert and make governments aware of the
potential of the various threats, with an estimated the cost of $1 trillion
annually. It is looking only at protecting lost ecosystem, such as tropical
reefs. The researchers gave context to authorities try to avoid the worst scenario,
starting to work on areas that are possible to change now.
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To determine the impact of
ocean acidification, it is necessary to consider societal implications, loss of
ecosystem services or policy, and how organisms physiologically respond. Fish
have more flexibility to adapt, but the time might not necessarily be enough
for species to adjust. As another example, looking at tropical reefs, their
destruction can lead to decreased food security, income loss, and shoreline
damage. Therefore negative impacts represent a direct threat not only on the
ocean, but also to human populations. For all predictions made, they are not
considering other factors that occur in oceans worldwide, like their warming.
Because of this, it is necessary to focus on goals that can be implemented
right away, like limiting construction debris, sewage and pollution levels.
The ocean acidification is
related to Principles of Ecology since this topic is not only about how the
ocean and their marine life are affected, but also how the humans interact with
them, contributing to this problem or helping to solve it. This relation is on
one hand about the possible loss of biodiversity and extinction of many
different species, and on the other hand about their preservation.
In my opinion, the ocean
acidification is a big problem that might be ignored because people cannot see it
directly, but it exists and is becoming worse over the years. The effects will start on some calcifying
species and then, once these species are at risk, the entire food web may also
be at risk. Besides this, people that have food from the ocean as their primary
source of protein and as a source of income will suffer too. The changes need to
start as soon as possible before the damage will be so vast that it will take
thousands of years to be repaired.
Sources:
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I like your comment about how people often cannot see the effects of ocean acidification directly so they may ignore it. I feel like this is the case for many of human impacts we have on the ocean. People don't realize the effects we are having on the ocean and the species in it. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteI like your comment about how people often cannot see the effects of ocean acidification directly so they may ignore it. I feel like this is the case for many of human impacts we have on the ocean. People don't realize the effects we are having on the ocean and the species in it. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteGood post. I how well written and comprehensive your post was. I also liked how you mentioned that coastlines and coastal areas will be more heavily damaged. It's kind of ironic how, knowing this, people inland are still required to subsidize part of their losses. I also liked how you mentioned that, if the extent of predicted damage does come to be, then there won't be a quick fix, but we'll be dealing with the consequences for years to come.
ReplyDeleteYes, I totally agree with you. Rapid ocean acidification caused close attention all over the world, people are worried about the change in the next few years. We need to save the ocean in order to have enough fish to eat. If not, ocean acidification will have a serious impact on the marine food chain, biodiversity and fishery.
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